Discover Your Talent–Do What You Love | Build a Career of Success, Satisfaction and Freedom

What do highly successful people actually do to succeed? For 41 years as entrepreneur, inventor, author and coach, Don Hutcheson has experienced and studied the proven career-building strategies that people around the world have used for decades to create lives of success, satisfaction and freedom. Monday and Wednesday he interviews individuals from every career category and profession of every age and background. They share their real-world experiences and insights—what worked, what didn’t, and why—and any advice they might offer to help you jump-start your life and career to the next level. Every Friday Don chats with top experts in the fields of business and personal development who offer tools and insights for every stage of your journey. Select recorded interviews here: http://www.DiscoverYourTalentPodcast.com/podcast. Interview Don on your podcast, radio show or other media: don@DYTpodcast.com

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Expert Brad Axelrad sees fears as a dragon. “Facing your dragon is understanding how to find, face and ride your dragon; very simply, it’s about how to train your dragon. My approach is based on the quote, ‘The cave you fear to enter holds the treasure you seek.’ Our greatest fear is possibly our greatest gift and our money-maker. I challenge folks to look at what they're most afraid of.” Based in Costa Rica, Brad is a consultant, speaker and spiritual adventure tour facilitator. He supports coaches and consultants to leverage their fear, freeing them to create the lifestyle they desire.

Nora Riva Bergman's career journey takes her from musician to lawyer to bar association executive director to a coach for lawyers. “Ampersands” is her term for life passages and turning points. Death of the “Auntie Mame” figure in her life jolted her to rethink her relationship to the law profession. As a practice advisor at Atticus, Nora founded Real Life Practice, teaching attorneys work-life balance and how to gain self-knowledge, to help lawyers become better lawyers, and better people. Self-knowledge is key, she tells her clients.

Eric Dailey, founder of Dailey Training, was a professional basketball player, a stand-out on major teams in Europe, Asia and South America. Without an agent he successfully negotiated contracts, managed travel arrangements and conducted try-outs. While playing for Real Madrid in Spain—a top tier team in Europe—Eric learned he could negotiate better for his own best interests than an agent in the U.S. Building relationships with general managers globally, he learned the intricacies of corporate business. Eric is now president of two international companies, Dailey Training International (basketball) and Global Cup World Championships (youth basketball).

Melissa Cohen, LCSW, wrote the bestselling Parent Knowledgy, a simple guide to surviving your teen. She is dedicated to helping individuals find their own identity while managing their need for independence. Whether it is anxiety, conflict resolution, communication, self-esteem or managing expectations, Melissa tailors her approach to each unique situation. "I think it takes a long time to build up (the) courage, to move forward with what we want. I had found what I loved to do earlier in life, I just hadn't found a way to make it my own. It took all these years to do that.”

Ashley Cooper underwent intense bullying as a child. The depression that followed left her virtually without hope. At 25, halfway around the world in Thailand, she questioned her own sanity as she began a 21-day vow of silence. Today, she is on a "soul mission" to helping others see their divine nature and understand that anything is possible, if they just believe. A yoga instructor, mindfulness coach, she’s the founder of The 6A Method from Pain to Power™ and co-founder of ABC Charity™- a global art project based on kids helping kids.

Otakara Klettke learned to listen to her body and nurture her health as she grew from being a sickly child to a personal fitness trainer, adventurer, TV reporter and mom. In her book, “Hear Your Body Whisper,” Otakara tells how to unlock your body’s self-healing mechanism. More than ever, she contends, it’s crucial we learn how to bring our human consciousness and awareness to the task of keeping ourselves healthy. The body has its own, natural self-healing mechanism and we can listen to it and even learn to guide it.

Stephen Christopher’s fortunes after the crash of 2008 were lower than he’d ever imagined—just short of living on the streets and going without food. So, when he urges aspiring entrepreneurs to set aside fear—and asks the question, “What’s the worst that could happen?”—they know he is speaking from experience. Far from being disillusioned and defeated, he is helping people grow their businesses, through his firm, Seequs Digital Marketing, and his podcast, Business Revolution

Laura Pennington's only half joking that her new career started with the Google search: How to become a freelance writer.” Professors in college had nurtured her writing, even though she wasn’t in a writing field. As she queried Google, she thought, “Well, at least I’m not a BAD writer.” Today, with a full roster of writing gigs, she’s helping other aspiring writers craft a freelance lifestyle that suits them.

Kwame Christian was offering free seminars on negotiation strategies as a sideline to get clients for his law firm. He noticed he was loving it more than anything he was getting paid to do. Then it hit him: I could be doing this for a living!”

Dr. Lori Shemek counseled clients struggling with health and lifestyle issues for years. Repeatedly, she saw how simple changes could alter the dynamics of a whole family for the better. In her late 30s, she began imagining: How powerful would it be to marry psychological insights with nutritional wisdom? Today she is the best-selling author of “How To Fight FATflammation!” and “Fire-Up Your Fat Burn!” She has made it her mission to help clients lose weight and educate the public on the toxic effects of certain foods and lifestyle choices. The Huffington Post has recognized Dr. Shemek twice as one of the top 16 health and nutrition experts alongside such names as Dr. Oz.

Dirk Van Loon cites two main reasons people fail to exert influence. Drawing on his leadership experiences in companies such as Nike, Atlas Copco, Bare International, he offers six factors crucial to gaining influence and exercising it effectively. The Belgium-based entrepreneur, coach, and transformation expert and his team have guided and supported countless individuals and organizations through the challenges posed by ever-growing global competition and the increasing pressure to perform. His expertise lies in multiple fields, including conflict resolution and transition management.

Dan Sheedy died twice in one day 20 years ago. The first time was when his vehicle was hit from the side; then again in the E.R. Resuscitated twice and recovering miraculously, he returned to his job as a hedge fund manager. But he also began to consider some dramatic changes.

Aimée Lissantheia talks to the bees, and says they listen to her. “We had this lovely conversation,” she recalls, talking about a chat at a café with a honey bee that nestled between her fingers. An odd story, perhaps—and an unlikely relationship—but one that led to an award-winning children’s book about a bee’s-eye view of the natural world entitled, “The Amazing Adventures of Melissa Bee.”

Scott Wilhite was in a corporate job he hated, with a mindset he called “grumpaholic.” Feeling miserable, he ran a fantasy jackpot scenario in his head, and asked himself, “If I win the Powerball and $32 million, what will I do?” After quickly imagining his first seven days as a millionaire, he began to suspect lack of money was not his problem. He set out to discover what was missing. Scott has since created the Feed Your Happy app, authored a mindset course on the 7 Core Skills of Everyday Happiness, and founded nCOURAGE.LIFE.

Mira Halpert saw her daughter’s passion for becoming a teacher at a young age. When the school said her daughter was not college material, Mira was heartbroken. But it also turned Mira into a “mom on a mission” and spurred her husband to leave his corporate job. They now have helped more than 2,000 students and are working to help thousands more.

Craig Ballantyne helps people get more done, make more money, and still get home on time for dinner. He offers five templates for creating rules of life that can be personalized by each individual. They act like the operating system for our lives. His templates are built on a foundation of Five Pillars of Success, which encompass time-tested principles such as planning and preparation, professional accountability, positive social support, a meaningful incentive, and a "Big Deadline." A co-owner of EarlyToRise.com, he is also the creator of the home workout system, Turbulence Training.

Brad Finkeldei was a smart guy who figured out early in life how to use his intelligence to get things done. But by the time he thought he should be enjoying his accomplishments, he realized he just wasn’t happy. Could he learn to slow down and understand the meaning of “be present? Soon, he left a lucrative $90,000 a year job in the tech industry to pursue his passion of helping others.

Otakara Klettke was born in Czech Republic and very sickly from an early age. Because of that, she spent more time reading great literature in her mother's library and visiting doctors than playing with children her own age. Now she lives on a ranch in the mountains of Oregon and travels every chance she gets. If it wasn't the doctors who turned around her life, what did she know that they did not?

Mac Prichard was disillusioned with college. Carrying a mediocre grade point average, he was about to drop out after his sophomore year. Although he barely knew his academic advisor, he decided to have a talk with him before reaching a decision. “He was a nice enough guy, and he made some suggestions I decided to follow.” Mac recalls. “He probably does not recall that conversation. But for me it was life changing.” Today, Mac is the publisher of Mac’s List, an online community for people looking for rewarding careers, doing creative and meaningful work, with 80,000 visitors each month.

Debbie Lazinsky’s doctor asked her, “Do you realize you weigh 318 pounds?” A question flashed across her brain: “How am I going to lose 200 pounds? I can't wrap my brain around losing what much!” Just the same, Debbie began to lose–five pounds at a time. And now she maintains her weight-loss naturally. Debbie specializes in giving practical advice to busy women on eating real food and lose weight permanently. Her before and after photos were featured in the January 2014 issue of People magazine.

Cole Hatter believes live events matter in creating thriving businesses and strong relationships. An entrepreneur, investor, author and acclaimed speaker, his Thrive: Make Money Matter annual conference teaches entrepreneurs how to dominate in business and in life while making the world a better place. His greatest passion is providing a platform to educate and empower entrepreneurs to live their lives and run their companies in a way that makes a measurable difference in the world.

Douglas Heikkinen was in the hyper-driven financial world of the 1980s, in its heyday, with a powerful mentor who demanded his best. He loved it. But after 13 years, changes in the firm—and in himself—he knew the time had come for him to move on. The firm had become too corporate for his liking. An uncertain world of high risk and potentially great reward lay before him. He was thinking like an entrepreneur.